Gioconda Belli

"I saw that it was possible to write love poems which were also
revolutionary, which could integrate personal and collective
experiences."

Biography

Nicaraguan sandinist writer born in Managua Dec 9 1948.
After going to school at the Colegio de la Asunción she
graduated at Charles Marcus Price College after studying in Madrid.
After her return to Nicaragua in 1970 she worked as in a publishing
agency and later published La Prensa Literaria. She won
the Mariano Fiallos Gil prize for poetry in 1972 and the
Casa de las Américas one in 1978, by which time
she was already fighting in the FSLN.
After winning the revolution, she worked in the PR
office of the same party.

Gioconda Bellis works include volumes of poetry
(political, erotical and both) and some highly acclaimed novels.
Her writing style follows the tradition of the phantastic realism other
latin american writers like Ernesto Cardenal, Claribel
Alegría and Isabel Allende make use of while still retaining
a vivid political message for socialism and the improvement of
the social situation of women in the society.

Bibliography

From Eve's Rib - poems (translated)

Waslala - novel situated in the near future about
a journalist discovering the hidden side of Nicaragua

The Inhabited Woman (La mujer habitada, 1988) - novel
Lavinia, a young,
aspiring architect in Managua before the revolution, ever
more feels the presence of an indigenous woman from
the time of the spanish conquista growing in her as she
eats the fruit from an orange tree. She decides to fight against
the opressors of her time.